Health Anxiety - Part two

[MrsWhites]

Hi everyone, it seems we have reached 1000 posts on our original thread which is amazing, just shows how much support we have been able to give each other.

I thought we would benefit from part two!

@SunshineCake Oh I'm sorry to hear that, can you rest a bit and see if it eases?

I managed to speak to the GP about my sinus pressure and he's prescribed a week of antibiotics as he think it is sinusitis. I didn't realise you could get sinusitis without having a blocked nose. I'm glad to have a diagnosis and a plan. Although I'm already worrying about what if he got it wrong or what if the antibiotics don't make it better. Or what if I get thrush or side effects from the antibiotics. Argh! Stupid anxiety brain.

@SunshineCake do you think it could be rib inflammation? Costochondrisis?

I've been in bed all day apart from one visit downstairs to watch tv for 40 minutes. I don't think it is costochondritis as dd has had that and the pain doesn't seem that bad as she reported it. It is the same pain I have had a lot which makes me think it must just be anxiety. Is it anxiety making me not be able to get out of bed too?

I was shattered after eating lunch which was the same as last year but I seemed okay after dinner tonight.

Welcome @SunshineCake and @Stilllivinginazoo!

@Skyliner001 that’s amazing, well done you, baths are so hard! I have to hide under loads of bubbles or flannels usually! 😂

@Skyliner001 well done, that’s amazing, you’ve done so well! That’s one of my goals to be able to do that!! X

@Goolies I know, so exciting, I just need to stop being so impatient and relax I think! I just can’t wait to meet baby!! X

@SunshineCake @Stilllivinginazoo welcome, everyone here is so nice, hope it helps you as much as it has me x

Thanks everyone
I have had anxiety most of my life
My DC have varying issues-one diagnosed ASD,one in progress of.other has lots "traits" and currently battling anxiety and depression.
Just before Xmas youngest had to SI from 21st as last day of term appears have been a day someone was infectious.10 of her secondary class droppedonly 2 had "classic symptoms" rest were discovered when other older members dropped or because parents concerned
We discovered that my low level health anxiety has worsened,mainly I think as dd2(16 and hi anxiety/depression) has it very badly.ds same.
Was horrendous and we ended up with dd2 downstairs with me(shares sister and adamant HAD to come with mum) and other two in their rooms.lots facetiming/kahoot etc
It's rocked us all very badly and I've gotten worse as weeks passing with all the news etc
I cannot take ADs as last 3attempts had to stop as the effects of uncontrollable rage were making me unable to parent.previous to that I took citalopram when youngest was small but I developed major migraines and had to stop

I don't sleep,and am exhausted trying to care for everyone else and never myself as they take priority

Thanks for letting me vent

Hope everyone doing ok today
Exciting to have a baby coming to thread soon.congratulations!

Hi all, I’m hoping for book/podcast/app recommendations if anyone has any?

Had a really shit few days anxiety wise. Topped off tonight by finding a lump on my tummy. I just can’t see an end to this atm. It’s debilitating at times.

I’m only 2 weeks into sertraline but I’m just not feeling any benefit yet. I know I may be in the it gets worse before it gets better phase but bloody hell its tough. I just want my old life back.

It’s so good to be able to hear of the experience of others without judgement too. So whilst I’m sad you guys feel the same as me I’m thankful for a tiny window of understanding

Thank you for the welcomes and I hope we all have a good nights sleep.

My pain has eased a bit. I've been checking my oxygen levels which as helped. I'm going to try really hard to get up tomorrow.

@Lib3rtine I totally agree, it’s just so strange how it alters your thought process. Oh no don’t start on others! You’ll do it once and then it’ll become another worry, stay strong

@tmh88 glad you’ve managed to book in and hope your dentist is feeling better soon!

@SunshineCake Hi! No don’t read number 1 you will be there days haha welcome! Sorry to hear you were ill last year. Like the others have said your chest pains sound very much like anxiety induced ones. When I’m having a hard time with my anxiety I get pains in my chest that then creep into my back - they feel a little like when you eat or drink and it goes down the wrong way and it’s so painful. I’ve learned to try and distinguish between anxiety and reality with them - the more I fixate on something and worry the more ‘real’ the pains, as hard as it is try and find yourself a small distraction or let your mind wander to somewhere else every time you’re tempted to worry about being ill again. I would maybe go for a nice long walk rather than a run, purely because when you get home and you’re catching your breath from running in the cold you could start to worry that you’re unwell, and then feel more breathless. I would have a little rest and then if you feel up to it a little potter about. Anxiety has so many physical symptoms and you could be exhausting yourself by worrying. Don’t push yourself too hard, just take it easy and if you don’t feel you can do a lot, just try and do little, often

@Skyliner001 well done you! I bet you feel a million dollars for that!

@Stilllivinginazoo welcome! You sound like you have a lot on your plate and I’m very sorry to hear that. Rant away in here - we all do it. Have you thought about speaking to your GP and taking a different medication? Remember you are important too and if you don’t look after yourself and get enough sleep you’ll feel much worse

@Catsneezies glad you’ve got some antibiotics. I suffer with sinus problems a lot from an accident I had when I was younger. When they play up the pain is awful but I don’t always have a blocked nose either, it’s so strange

@Partey sorry you’ve found a lump, is it one you’ve felt before? Don’t Google! I know what you mean about wanting your old life back - a life without anxiety seems like it was forever ago. I put in a recommendation of Matt Haig’s books. I’m reading ‘Reasons to stay alive’ at the minute and it’s sort of a recount of his struggles with anxiety and depression. A friend recommended it to me and I’m really enjoying reading it and find it interesting how other people handle and experience anxiety. He has another one that follows it called ‘Notes on a Nervous Planet’ which I’m planning to read next. They might be of some use to you

Thank you so much @dillydallydollydaydream7, that really helped. I didn't sleep very well but I talked to dh last night and said I was going to try and get up normally today. I woke up and told myself the same. I feel tearful I didn't see ds1 before he went to work, and nor ds2 feels sick with a headache but I feel while I don't feel great I can cope with getting up. I'm not showering as when I had one yesterday I felt panicky and I don't want to try and do too much and end up back in bed for days. My plan today is to put laundry outside the owners door and walk the dog with dh after putting a wash on. I have lots of stuff to do but I'll see how I go. Thank you again.

Morning all.

Had a breast clinic appointment yesterday. From all the digging I’d found a very small lump. My GP couldn’t feel it so it was just a normal priority referral. I felt a bit fraudulent going because of the lack of GP support (and worried about catching Covid. The hospital was absolutely RAMMED).

Anyway the consultant couldn’t feel anything either but scanned me anyway. They found a small cyst. So I am relieved it was morning to worry about and triumphant that my digging and poking was for something because if it had been cancer, I’d have caught it quickly. It’s difficult because it’s the toss up between giving myself more stress with this fingertip examination which we’ve been told is the wrong thing to do, and finding something early.

The consultant said to me that cancer would feel like... but I can’t remember what he fecking said. Something about a pea. But that isn’t right, because pea lumps are like cysts / fibroadenomas so maybe he said it doesn’t feel like a pea. Sorry, that’s not helpful is it?

@Scaredykittycat so pleased it was only a cyst!

@Scaredykittycat how do you feel now? Do you feel a bit better?

@Catsneezies I had sinusitis last year and I was convinced I had a brain tumour. I had numbness in my face, and a constant headache that wasn’t relieved by painkillers. Took days, 3 doctors visits (and in the end my friend diagnosing me) to realise what it was.

I’d had no cold beforehand, and had no blocked nose.

Antibiotics didn’t help, Sudafed didn’t help. In the end my anxiety got the better of me and I had an MRI which found a mucus cyst in one of my sinuses which basically confirmed the diagnosis.

After 4 weeks I was given a steroid spray as I was still dizzy, feeling sick and tired. I lost half a stone. Anyway that worked after a week or so.

Ever since though I do get flare ups for no apparent reason but at least I know what it is now.

Hope you feel better soon x

@dillydallydollydaydream7 yes thank you. Until my next check next month...! I hate checking. I feel like I always find something to worry about.

How are you? X

Morning everyone.

@Scaredykittycat so glad that your lump was just a cyst, that’s a relief for you. It will probably come to you what the consultant said when you least expect it - probably in the middle of the night 😂

Hope everyone else is doing well!

@Scaredykittycat so glad everything was ok, such a relief! What I was told is that something cancerous would feel like a piece of gravel amongst pebbles, so completely different texture. I know what you mean about fingertip feeling, they say not to do it but it’s so hard not to especially when it meant you found your little cyst x

Thank you @dillydallydollydaydream7 I’ll check it out, I have heard his name mentioned on twitter too.

@Scaredykittycat well I'm pleased that for now you get a little relief. I completely know where you're coming from though, I hate checking too. I found this morning I felt like I had a pain so rummaged about and felt something - when I've prodded and poked a bit more it feels like a lymph node so I'm trying to leave it alone and leave it at that. Other than that I'm good thank you. Spoke to my GP this morning and I'm starting my sertraline today. He said to go for a month and then ring him for a review and that I might find I have a bad week but will start to feel better from next x

@Scaredykittycat thank you for sharing what happened to you. When they found the mucus cyst what was the treatment, just steroid spray? Was that a stronger strength that the ones you can buy online? I'm wondering about trying that if the antibiotics don't work.

What I don't want to do is get myself into a state about it and press for further investigations as although in the end there is usually reassurance the whole time that the GP takes it seriously, refers me, I wait for an appointment, have horrible tests etc it sends me into a massive anxiety spiral. So I'm really hoping that the antibiotics will work and I don't have to go back to the GP.

Also feeling anxious today as DH has to go into the office tomorrow and as much as I nag him he doesn't always remember to be scrupulously hygienic eg. he wouldn't think to wash his hands after touching the communal kettle or a door handle. We're not in an at-risk group but all the stories of healthy young people dying do scare me.

@MrsWhites haha yes you’re right.

@Catsneezies no, the MRI didn’t trigger anything. It was just returning to the doctors to say I still couldn’t walk in a straight line and could I have more antibiotics. They said antibiotics wouldn’t work if they didn’t work the first time so try this. They have me Avamys I think it was.

Mucus cysts are quite a common incidental finding I think, I’m not sure there’s any treatment. They resolve on their own in time, it often takes months.

I was told by 3 separate doctors that brain tumours don’t present with a headache. That there’d be other more worrying things like seizures or weakness in one part of the body. They said the headache when you do get one means you can’t even open your eyes. I hope that’s reassuring. Brain tumours are also really rare. Sinus problems are not! If you aren’t displaying any red flag symptoms then they’re right not to raise it as an issue. I know it’s easy for me to say because when I had mine going on I couldn’t sleep and sat up all night crying and googling brain tumours. But honestly your doctor wouldn’t take the risk if they thought there was a concern.

All men are the same aren’t they. I’d feel the same as you x

Thanks @Scaredykittycat that's really helpful and reassuring.

Brilliant news @Scaredykittycat 🥳🥳

scaredykitty glad results were ok
We lost a friend to a brain tumour and it's most definitely more complicated than headaches- she had always had migraines but her vision and slurred speech/not making sense when in her mind her words were perfectly in sentences were first flags.it is incredibly rare,but I know that statement doesn't alleviate anxiety.but like the classic well meaning calm down(like I hadn't thought of that!)
I find just reminding myself I survived yesterday helps